Signal



July 10, 1928.

w. F. BRETTSCHNEIDER SIGNAL Filed. Dec. 12, 1925 4 5 z i: I so I W r'g 'r'y""" 6 e i glll i J44 m :5 a Z Z I 1 1| 2 Sheets Sheet 2 Patented July 10,1928.

mm orrics;

WILLIAM F. BRETTSCHNEIDER, or s'r. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SIGNAL.

Application filed DecemberllZ, 1923. Serial No. 680,251.

My invention relates to signals or direction indicators for motor vehicles and has for its object to provide means for indicating to the public the direction which the motorist intends to travel.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby persons positioned on all sides of the vehicle may be simultaneously informed as to the purpose of the driver.

Another object of the invention is tovpro-' vide signals both in the rear and the front of the vehicle which are controlled by a single controlling means to simultaneously operate the same.

A feature of the invention resides in providing the front signaling means with two or more signals facing in different directions and to provide means for simultaneously illuminating all signals of like character of said signaling means. V

A still further feature of the invention resides in providing separate signaling means for indicating that the motorist wishesto travel to the right, to the left or forward, which signaling means are confined to a limited space.

Another object of the invention consists.

of providing means for illuminating all of the signals of each kind from a single illuminating member.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a casing having transparent windows arranged along three'sides of the same and of providing similar letters upon all of said windows and to providemeans for simultaneously illuminating" the correspond ng letters on each of said w ndowsby means of separate illuminating members for each class of letters. I

Another object of the invention resides in providing radially positioned walls which divide the easing into two compartments and to position individual illuminating members in each of said compartments, said wallsbeing arranged to direct the rays of light'to certain portions of each of said windows.

Another feature of theinvention resides in so connecting up the device that the tail light of the vehicle is turned off at the time the rear signal or direction indicator is rendered operative. 1

Other features of the invention reside in the detailed construction thereof as will be more fully brought out in the specification and claims relating thereto.

, In the drawings illustrating my inven tion in one form Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the type of direction indicator employed at the front of the vehicle.

Figure 2 is a sectional view-taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1. I

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 2. v

Figure i is a sectional view taken on line. lie-l of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the type of direction indicator mounted upon the rear of the vehicle.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6--6 of Figure 5. V

Figure 7 a sectional view ofthe switch for controlling the operation of the invention.

Figure 8 is. a wiring diagram illustrating signaling orindicating devices. be. simulj taneously operated so that no confusion occurs. At the same time it is highly desirable to have a simple and effective device which utilizes a minimumamount of'current from the battery. ,My invention: fully complieswith these requirements as will become. apparent from the following description thereof. g l My invention consists primarily of a' di v rectionindicator or signal A which is po'sitioned at the front of the vehicle and another direction indicator B positioned at the rearof the vehicle. The signal B is provided with a window 9 on the face thereof on which is formed the letter L indicated at 10 letter being positioned within the vertex of the letter L. Upon illuminating the portion of the signal containing the letter R and the letter R indicated at 11,,said latter i The signal A iscon'structed in Va V tive letters and 11 appear.

windows 12, 13 and 14 on which the respec- Like letters on all of the windows are simultaneously illuminated so that the observers can see the same letter from all sides of the vehicle.

The construction of the signal ordirection indicator B is clearly shown in Figures 5 and 6. This device consists of a casing 15 which is open at the front and which is formed with cars 16 projecting inwardly into the same. 'VVithin the said casing is provided a partition comprising a vertical wall 17 and ahorizontal Wall 18 which are arranged as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 and which are also formed with ears 19 corresponding to the ears 16 on the exterior walls of the casing. The two walls 17 and 18 divide the interior of the casing 15 into two compartments 20 and 21 ofwhich the compait ment 21 is angular in formation and the compartment 20 is rectangular, being positioned in the Vertex of the angle of compartment-21. Across the front of the casing 15 is positioned the window 10 previously referred to which is supported against the ears 18 and 19 and which is held in place by aframe 22 secured to casing15 by means of screws 23. This wmdow may be made of bers.

; 25 covering'the compartment 21.

22'is so constructed with a vertical bar-26 and a single piece of glass or may be made of separate pieces so that the compartments 20 and 21 may be closed by separate closure mem- In the drawings I have illustrated a piece of green glass 24 covering the opening to compartment 20 and a piece of red glass The frame a horizontal bar27 so that the portionof the red glass indicated at 25, visible through the same, exactly similates the shape of the letter L. Immediately in back of the green glass, 24 is positioned a stencil 28 constructed pieceof glass having a single color for both the "L and-"the R, or clear glass usedand the different colors painted thereon.

"of some opaquematerial, which together the light 29 is lighted the green letter L isalso illuminated.

If desired a window 10 as before stated can be made of a single .The device used upon the front of the vehicle and indicating the direction of" the q travel of the motorist issimilar to that shown'in Figures 5 and 6. In this device, however, the three windows 12, 1,3 and 14 are employed instead of the single window.

10 there illustrated. In this device a casing 31 is employed which consists of a solid back 32 connected to a horizontal partition 33 near the upper portion thereof to which posts 34, 35, 36 and 37 situated at the corners of the casing are attached. At the upper portion of the casing the posts 34, 35, 36 and 37 are connected together by horizontal bars 38 and 39 and at the bottom the same are connected by similar bars which hold the respective parts together to form a-substantial construction. it is advantageous to form the device of a single casting in which all of the parts are.

cast integrally, though it can readily be understood that the same may be otherwise constructed without involving further invention. A in addition to the partition 33 are-placed three upwardly inclined partitions 40, 41 and Within the interior of the casing In this form of the invention I 42 which are pyramidal in formation and are v connected to one another and to the back 32 as well as the posts 34, 35, 36 and 3 7. These their edges 51 positioned along th surface of the windows 12, 13 and 14 and which intersect the partitions 40, 41 and 42 and having the'said edges.5l intersecting the edges 43 at right angles thereto as clearly shown in Figure 1. These vertical'walls are covered with downwardly sloping roofs 52,: 53 and 54 which extend up to the horizontalv partition 33 so thatv with this arrangement the space 44 is adapted to communicate with all portions of the three Rs displayed through the windows 12, 13 and 14, whereas the compartment'45is adapted to communicate with all portions of the threeLs displayed through the same'windows.

. Above partition 33 is formed'a. compartf ment indicated at 57 in the casing A which is of considerably less height than the'compartment below the same. This compart ment communicates with openings 58 positioned above the windows'12, 13 and 14 in which similar windows 59 'may be placed and supported.

I For supporting the windows 12, 13 and 14 within the casing A the posts 34, 35, 36 and.

37' are made with oppositely facinggrooves 55 in which the panes of glass indicated at 56 and forming the windows 12, 13 and 14 may he slid from the bottom of the said. casing. As is the case with the form of the invention vused upon the rear of'the vehicle stencils shown at '60 and 61 may be'employed to form the letters L and It upon the respective windows 12, 13 and 14 and an arrow upon the windows 59, or these characters may be secured in any other suitable manner as before stated.

'Within the compartments 57. 44 and 45 are positioned three electric lights 62, 63 and 64- which are placed in sockets secured to the wall 32 of the casing. These lights when illuminated as clearly becomes evident will simultaneously illuminate the characters upon the respective windows communicating with the above mentioned compartments so that the signal is given in all threedirections at the same time by a single lamp. F or illuminating the stems of the three Us the walls 46, 47 48, 49 and 50 and the roofs 54, 52 and 53form radially extending passageways 66, 67 and 68 which conduct the light rays from the center of the electric light 64 to all portions of the said letters, so that upon'the lighting'of this light the letters are clearly illuminated throughout their entire extent with equal b'rilliancy.

For inclosing the casing and for holding the glass panes 56 and 58 in place I provide a detachable cover 69 and a'detachable base 70 adapted to be secured'upon said casing A by means of screws 71 and 72 screwed into the several parts 34, 35, 36 and 37.

v The bottom 7 O-has a boss 171 formed upon where the same may be readily visible from- .the two sides and the front of the same.

If desired, member A may be positioned upon the hood or attached to the radiator or, if preferable. may be mounted upon the fender or top of the vehicle. manner the casing B may bepositioned upon the rear'fender or attached to the body of the vehicleat any rearward portion of the same where said signal may be easily perceived by the public V In connecting up the device reference is to be had to Figure 8 in which the three lights 62, 63 and 64 which are positioned in casing A are indicatedatthe upper portion of said figure and the two lights 29 and 30 positioned in casing'B are indicated at the lower portion of said figure. In addition, the vehicle battery is shown at 73 and the dash lamp and tail light at 74 and 75 respectively. In addition to this con-- struction a special switch is indicated at C which is shown in deta l in Figure 7. I This switch consists of a base 76 whlch has rotat- In a similar ably mounted upon it a flanged shaft 78 formed with a central bore 79 extending through the same. This shaft has attached to it a' swinging arm 80 which is held in place thereon by means of'a nob 81 through which" said arm may be rotated. 'Arm 80 is adapted to contact with three fixed contacts 82, 83 and 84, all secured to the base 76. As illustrated,'thebase76 is formed hollow'an'd within the same is mounted a fixed, arced contact member 85 which is di-- With. 7

The manner, of connecting up the'various wardly the yieldable contact member 87 is caused to engage the fixed contact member 85 and to close a circuit connected there-.

elements of my invention'to secure the sig- 'nal desired can best be understood in referring to Figure 8. The battery 73, being the battery of the .vehicle is grounded at one side and is connected at itsother side by means of a conductor 90 to the swinging arm 80 of switch. C. This switch feeds the various signals of the invention. various contact members 82, 83 ancl84 a1'e connected circuit-s 91, 92 and 93 which are all grounded at'their extreme ends.

nected in series the lights 63 and 30; while the circuit 92 contains the light 62 alone. With this arrangement it can readily be seen that as the nob 81 is rotated that either the right. forward or left'turn signals may be selectively operated to indicate the direction the motorist intends to travel.

In addition to the circuits for controlling these various signal lights I employ another grounded circuit 94-whichis connected to the yieldable contact member 87 previously referred to.

lit and a circuit may b had to the tail light- 7 5 and dash lamp 74 by the manipulation of evening and by closing the'circuit 94 through the operation of the nob 89 the tail light and dash lamp are fed at the same time; As

soon as either ofthe'lights '64 or63' are lit.

by the shifting of theswitch arm 80'to the contact 82 or 84 the tail lamp 75 is deprived I of current and only the signal lamps at the v In the circuit 91, are connected in series the lightsv 64 and'29, and in the circuit 93 are con- This circuit contains the dash lamp 74 and the tail light 75 which are con'-' nected in series in the usual manner.

the switch arm 80 is in contact with the contact 83 thelight 62 is normally maintained To the V Rs in the indicating faces simultaneouslyi so rear and front of the vehicle are lit, thereby preventing confusion to the observers,

For daytime use the switch arm 80 1s normally positioned between any oft-he contacts, thereby maintaining circuits 91, 92

V and 93 open and the nob-89 is so turned that the circuit 94 is also open. WVith this arrangement either the right, left or forward lights of the signal can be lit without causing the tail light to be lit at the same time.

To enable the motorist to determine whether th various signals of the invention are operating when the switch is manipulated I provide three openings 100 in the .rear wall 32' of casing A, which openings communicate with the respective compart- 'manifest." A system is provided in which the tail light of the vehicle becomes extinguished' upon operating the signal associated therewith so that confusion to the observers i from the rear of the vehicle cannot occur,

When the vehicle is traveling'in a forward direction the signal indicating forward travel is maintained lit. But three lights are used for illuminating th signals each light illuminating three separate signals,

" which signals are so arranged as to be visible' from three sides of the vehicle. An extremely simple construction is secured in which the parts may be readily formed by manufacturing methods now in common use, so that the device may be readily manufactur'ed and assembled. The particular arrangement of the signal members permits of a device of small and compact size to be constructed, so that the device is neat inappearance. and requires only a minimum amount of material in its construction.

I claim: 7 y

1. A direction indicator including a series of indicating faces, indicating L and R characters formed on said indicating faces,

separate light compartments formed in said direction indicator, one of said compartments having its openings limited by and being adapted to illuminate all of the and the other of saidcompartments being adapted to illuminate all of theLs simultaneously in said indicating faces, the Rs of said indicating faces being formed within 5 the area of, the L formed therein, but each being independent of each other information and 1nd1cat1on,to.form a compact direction indicaton of said 2. A casing polygonal in cross section, a

plurality of windows positioned along at least three of the sides thereof, a letter L formed on each of said windows, another letter formed on said windows and positioned in the vertexes of said letters L, upwardly inclined, radially extending partitions issuing from the lines of separation of the legs of said Lsand said other letters, radially extending vertically positioned walls issuing from the lines'of division of said stems-of said Ls and said other letters and from the corners of said casing, intersecting said partitions to form two compartments communicating with all of said other letters and said Ls andmeans within each of said compartments for simultaneously illuminating all of said Us or said other letters. 7

3. A casing polygonal in cross section, a plurality of windows positioned along atleast. three of the sides thereof, an angular letter formed on each of said windows, a letter R formed on said windows and positioned in the vertexes of saidangular letter, upwardly inclined, radially extending partitions issuing from the lines of, separation of the legs of said angular letters and said Rs, radially extending vertically positioned walls issuing from the lines of divi-' sion of said stems of said angular letters and sa d Rs and from the corners of said casing, intersecting sald partltions to form two compzart-ments communicating with all s and sald angular letters and means within each of said compartments for simultaneously illuminating angular letters or said Rs.

a. A casing polygonal in crosssection, a plurality of windows positioned along at least three of the sides thereof, an angular letter formed on each of said windows,

all 7 of said another letter formed on said windows and positioned in the vertexes of said angular letter, upwardly inclined, radially extending partitions issuing from the lines of separation of the legs of said angular letters and said other letters, radially extending Vertisaid angular letters andmeans within each of said compartments for simultaneously illuminating all of said angular letters or said'other letters. r

5. A casing polygonal incross section having windows positlonedon at least three of the sides thereof. signals formed upon said windows, including a plurality of cor responding elements, one element at least partially embracing the other radially formed partition walls extending from'said.

Windows to the center of the casing to separate the elements of saidsignals and to form compartments communicating with corresponding elements of all of said signals and means Within said compartments for simultaneously illuminating all of the corresponding elements connected with said respective compartments.

6. A casing polygonal in cross section, a plurality of Windows positioned along at least three of the sides thereof, a letter L formed on each of said Windows, a letter R formed on said Windows and positioned in the vertexes of said letters L, upwardly inclined, radially extending partitions issuing from the lines of separation of the legs of said US and said Rs, radially ,ex-

tending vertically positioned Walls issuing from the'lines of division of said stems of said Us and said Rsj and from the corners of said casing, intersecting said partitions to form tWo compartments communicating with allot said He andsaid Us and means Within each of said compartments for simultaneously illuminating all of said Us or said Rs.

' WILLIAM F. BRETYTSCHNEIDER. 

